NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said that India has “nothing to say sorry about” as it has acted with “a great deal of maturity,” while criticising the US for unfairly singling out New Delhi and pointing out that “Europe is putting more billions of dollars into Russia’s kitty than we do.””I don’t think we have anything to say sorry about at all. India has behaved with a great deal of maturity on all of this,” Tharoor told ANI, noting that even past US administrations had “encouraged” New Delhi to buy Russian oil in order to “stabilise global prices.”Tharoor’s remarks came in response to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who claimed that “India is going to be at the table, and they’re gonna say they’re sorry and eventually strike a deal with US President Donald Trump.”Countering Lutnick’s claim, Tharoor pointed out that larger economies were more deeply tied to Moscow than India.”China buys more Russian oil and gas than we do. Turkey buys more Russian oil and gas than we do. Europe doesn’t buy oil and gas, but they buy other Russian items, so they’re putting more billions of dollars into Russia’s kitty than we do. It seems bizarre that we are alone being singled out for allegedly financing the Russian war effort when others are doing far more than we are,” he said. Calling it a “mistake in American policy,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said such criticism of India was “not warranted or justified.””I think Mr Lutnick has to understand that we are a sovereign nation, just as they are. They can take their own sovereign decisions, we will take our own sovereign decisions,” he added. Lutnick on Friday took a cue from Trump’s hardline tariff stance warning India to “stop buying Russian oil, stop being a part of BRICS, and support the United States and the dollar or face a 50% tariff” even likening India’s position to Canada’s retreat after economic pressure. “In a month or two months, I think India is going to be at the table, and they’re gonna say they’re sorry, and they’re going to try to make a deal with Donald Trump and it will be on Donald Trump’s desk how he wants to deal with Modi, and we leave that to him. That’s why he’s the president,” Lutnick said.He also labelled India as “the vowel between Russia and China” in BRICS, saying, “If that’s who you want to be, go, be it… ….and let’s see how long this lasts.”Lutnick’s remarks came after Trump himself softened his tone on his social media post, calling India-US ties “very special” and affirming his friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the SCO summit in Tianjin.Trump said, “I always will. I’ll always be friends with (PM) Modi. He’s a great Prime Minister. I’ll always be friends, but I just don’t like what he is doing at this particular moment.””But India and the United States have a very special relationship. There is nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” he added.Following Trump’s statement, PM Modi responded warmly on Saturday, saying he “deeply appreciates and fully reciprocates President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties.”Tharoor also urged caution over PM Modi’s warm response to Trump’s remarks on India-US ties saying, “The Prime Minister was very quick to respond, and the foreign minister has also underscored the importance of the basic relationship that is a comprehensive global strategic partnership, which is still there. And that message is an important message for us to give. I don’t think we can just completely forget either the 50% tariffs or the insults that have accompanied it from both the President and his staff.”The Congress MP further warned that Trump’s “mercurial temperament” and the “real consequences” of punitive tariffs demanded caution.”One can’t just forget and forgive so quickly because there are real consequences that Indians are facing on the ground and those consequences need to be overcome,” he added.
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